October 9, 2003
Felliniana to honor legendary filmmaker
A major international event honoring the legacy of director Federico Fellini is occurring on campus and around Seattle. The celebration, organized and presented by the UW, and with the cooperation and support of many local, national, and international partners, is being held on the 40th anniversary of the debut of Fellini’s film 8½, one of the most influential films in modern cinema.
“Felliniana is great for the people of Seattle,” says Raimonda Modiano, UW professor of English and comparative literature and the event chair. “It offers us all a chance to see this creative genius through his films and his art, and to discuss it all with an international group of scholars, filmmakers, and fellow film lovers. We’ll have a great cast of international guests, more than half of Fellini’s films, and art and photography exhibits all open to the public.”
Fellini is widely regarded as one of the most important directors in post-war global cinema. “Felliniana: Seattle’s International Celebration of Fellini’s Cultural Legacy,” has already begun with the showing of Fellini’s Roma and a restored European DVD print of La Dolce Vita Sept. 27-28, respectively, at the Experience Music Project. But the celebration will hit full stride later this month, with an academic conference, a film festival, several visual arts displays, and two gala events.
The Felliniana Opening Celebration, 7:30 p.m. Oct. 29 at Meany Hall, will include a keynote address by Gianfranco Angelucci. One of Fellini’s most frequent collaborators, Angelucci is a noted director, scriptwriter, and novelist in his own right. The evening also will include tributes to Fellini by 8½ actress Barbara Steele and UW distinguished poet Linda Bierds, as well as a multimedia presentation, featuring music from film scores by Nino Rota and celebrated film composer Nicola Piovani, performed live by San Francisco’s Orchestra Nostalgico and accompanied by a video retrospective and live commentary by Piovani. And the UW’s Craig Sheppard will give a Chopin piano performance.
The concert will be accompanied by a video retrospective, with commentary by Piovani, who has composed more than 120 film scores and was among Fellini’s most intimate collaborators: he wrote the award-winning soundtrack for Ginger and Fred (1986) and scored the director’s final two films, Intervista (1987) and The Voice of the Moon (1990). Tickets, $25 ($6, students), are available now from the UW Arts Ticket Office, 206-543-4880.
An 8½ Halloween party at the Big Picture to benefit Felliniana will be held Oct. 31, with Steele as the guest of honor. Limited tickets, $75 per person, are available only in advance for this event. Contact ffellini@u.washington for tickets.
Felliniana is presenting a film festival at the Seattle Art Museum, with all showings at 7:30 p.m. Films include La Strada (Oct. 12), Nights of Cabiria (Oct. 14), 8½ (Oct. 15), Juliet of the Spirits (Oct. 17), Satyricon (Oct. 19), Amarcord (Oct. 20), Casanova (Oct. 26) and Ginger and Fred (Oct. 27). Brief talks will accompany each screening. Tickets, $7 ($6 for SAM members) are available now through the Seattle Art Museum.
The Fellini film Intervista will be shown in the HUB Auditorium Oct. 28, with commentary from Angelucci, the film’s scriptwriter. The Lost Ending, a documentary on the making of 8½, will be shown in the Henry Art Gallery Oct. 30, with commentary by the film’s director, noted film critic, film restorer, and author Mario Sesti.
The Seattle Art Museum will feature from Oct. 12 to Oct. 31 an exhibition of rare, original vintage Fellini film posters from the Felliniana Archive, a private collection of Don Young. The Henry Art Gallery will host an exhibit titled, The Gladiator Nun: Fellini’s Women, from Oct. 17 to Dec. 17. The exhibit includes 45 original and rare drawings by Fellini, most of which have never been exhibited anywhere in the world
Suzzallo Library will display The Beautiful Confusion, a collection of Tazio Secchiaroli’s photographs from the set of 8½, from Oct. 20 to Nov. 30.
The academic conference is free and open to the public. It will feature Angelucci, who will join a distinguished panel of international scholars and artists to discuss Fellini’s work. The conference will be held Oct. 30 to Nov. 1 in the Walker-Ames Room, Kane Hall. Registration is required and available through the Web site and during the conference in the Walker-Ames Room at beginning at 9 a.m.
A graduate student conference, organized by comparative literature graduate student Lance Rhoades, “After Fellini: The Death of the Auteur?” is being held Oct. 28–29, featuring papers covering topics that stem from the implications of the auteurist approach to film-making as a conceptual approach to film study. It is also open to the public and free.
An undergraduate course, “Great Directors,” will be dedicated to the work of Fellini. It will be taught by Albert Sbragia, professor of French and Italian studies, and Willis Konick, associate professor of comparative literature.
More information, including ticket information and conference registration, is available online at http://www.felliniana.org, or by e-mail, ffellini@u.washington.edu, or call 206-543-0509.
